My luck....as per normal = bad

[Stickyfinger]

Just get Betsy the AX started,,,,,FANTASTIC, all good....then tonight on the way to the train station to do a pick up for a friend, Bang, Xantia TD just dropped a big bollock on me......

Bang, clutch peddle to the floor on the way to town to pick a friend up from the station....Happened 2 miles down the road entering a roundabout.....managed to get it into first and start it....crawled home in 1st in the dark/raining.

Pulled it out of gear at home, gear stick becomes "loose"....only goes front back but car stays in gear ....

I presume, the clutch peddle clip and something with the linkages, It is a 1983 1.9td, so a bm3 gearbox with rods and ball joints ?.....car on the road outside the house.

[Stickyfinger]

Just ordered this.....plastic part with metal clip OEM / citroen 2128 21

The clutch peddle has been smooth and light up untill now so I do not suspect the cable or a gearbox fault (atm)

[myglaren]

Wasn't there a metal replacement for the plastic clip?
Although I seem to recall that the plastic clip was a deliberate weak link to avoid more serious trouble.

[Stickyfinger]

Not a cvlue about the metal, the only one I have ever had let go was 15/20 years ago and an AA man changed that in a McDonald's car park in Boston ....took him 15 mins (he had a cilp on his van !!)
This is all new to me on a Xantia

[CitroJim]

Sorry to hear abut this Alasdair

It's a bit of an acrobatic job to replace the clip but you'll be OK... Just hope it's been done before and the pedal pivot bolt is the right way round.

Lots of topics on here all about it f you search...

Wasn't there a metal replacement for the plastic clip?
Although I seem to recall that the plastic clip was a deliberate weak link to avoid more serious trouble.

Yes,. there was. I had one once - made from an alloy billet and a lovely looking piece of craftmanship. Fit once and forget - which I did on my original sinker...

The clip going often indicates the clutch is on its way out. The 1.9TD clutch gets progressively heavier as it wears until it gets heavy enough to pop the clip.

That said, last time I drove the car Alasdair, it did not seem overly heavy and I'd have felt it straight from a Picasso with its very light clutch.

I think yours was just suffering from age-related plastic fatigue...

[Stickyfinger]

That said, last time I drove the car Alasdair, it did not seem overly heavy and I'd have felt it straight from a Picasso with its very light clutch.

I think yours was just suffering from age-related plastic fatigue...

That is my thought Jim,,,,fingers crossed.

I will be Land Rover based till the new cable clip arrives (assuming the gearbox/clutch is OK) / that the linkage has just "popped off a ball"

[Richard_C]

Same thing happened to me years ago in my Synergie 1.9TD. Clunk, no pedal pressure. You fear the worst but in fact it was an awkward but easy job with no other conesquences. Hope you are 'lucky'.

Hardest part for me was seeing what I was doing, if you wear varifocals as I do and your head is upside down in the footwell nothing seems to focus.

You can drive quite a long way with no clutch release - warm the engine up, switch off, put in second and (horrible lurching) start up. Then with care you can change gear on light throttle pausing very briefly as you go through neutral - going up you let the revs die away, going down you give it a tiny bit of accelerator to get the revs up. Plan and try not to come to a halt. Got me from Yorkshire to Cambridge albeit in very light late night A1 traffic.

If you have to stop you need to stall it or turn ingnition key off, in a moden car the worry is the steering lock if you do the latter.

I often used to drive the Dyanes 'clutchless changes' once moving just for the joy of it when tootling along in no rush.

[RichardW]

It's best not to drive a BE3 clutchless, it's very easy to damage the 3rd synchro...

When mine went I couldn't get the bolt out and had to saw it off. Not fun. Malcolm used to reckon that a bit of twist and Percy watsit gave enough tilt on the bolt to get it out past the brake pedal.

[CitroJim]

It's best not to drive a BE3 clutchless, it's very easy to damage the 3rd synchro...

Yes, a very good point. I've known loads of BE3 'boxes damaged in this way...

I still have a spare 3rd synchro assembly in my spares stash...